Rick Mayer
Digital ProducerI’m the online producer for Health News Florida, a collaboration of public radio stations and NPR that delivers news about health care issues.
This is an important position at WUSF. In 2019, the typical U.S. family spent about 11 percent of its annual income on health care, so it stands to reason issues of cost, quality, access and innovation are consequential to all Floridians. Then COVID-19 came along, and the weight of these matters gained exponentially. I take our reporting on these topics quite seriously, as I’m sure you do, too.
Literally growing up in newsrooms and a little serendipity along the way prepared me well for the post. Here’s the abridged version: I’m a Tampa guy, graduating from H.B. Plant High and thrust into the world with my USF degree rolled tightly in hand. From there, it was three mostly sleepless decades as an editor at The Tampa Tribune, then developing and managing an online journal serving physician executives. There’s also my side job editing a statewide health magazine.
And being married to a longtime hospital nurse/case manager helps; dinner conversation often gives me a feel of what’s happening on the front lines. The good and not-so-good.
Of course, my time isn’t always spent flailing in the health news vortex. You’re actually more likely to find me breaking down the Bucs, Bulls or Bolts after a game, taking Oodle the poodle to the dog park or tinkering the backroom piano while vicariously reliving my former life as a musician. (Remember, kids: Parents of percussionists have plenty of patience. Plenty!)
Contact Rick on X @rmayer2361 or by email at Mayer1@wusf.org.
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No details are known other than the patient was over 60 and the infection was reported in late May or late June. There have been 14 cases of the flesh-eating bacteria in Florida this year. -
Bill Carlson says the Rays are receptive to his plan to cover Tampa's share of construction through new tax-increment revenue from the stadium district that would also seed a citywide infrastructure trust fund. -
Mayo Clinic Florida joined its campuses in Minnesota and Arizona for the first time in the Honor Roll of 20 best hospitals. University of Miami Hospital stood out in specialties, while Tampa General was best in region. -
TGH says the aircraft need less than three minutes, on average, to cross a 70-square-mile area, allowing paramedics to begin transfusions before trauma patients reach the hospital. -
There have been 252 cases in Florida since June 1, around the time outbreaks of the disease were first reported in five Midwest states, according to the state health department. -
The Florida Department of Health offices in both counties said they are working with mosquito control agencies to monitor and respond to the cases. -
Bill Carlson says he learned of negotiated changes in the $976 million contribution during a meeting with Rays CEO Ken Babby, who recently opened individual discussions with council members. -
Mayor Jane Castor says council members have been kept informed and explains her frustration was over last week's votes, but remains optimistic a deal can be done that maintains Tampa's role in the project. -
Members of Tampa's CRA board have said they may have sought alternatives to using CRA funds if they had been involved earlier in negotiations over the stadium financing package. -
During a roundtable on youth mental health, Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo introduced guidelines urging broader evaluations by providers before children are prescribed psychotropics.
